Newsweek covers sex addiction with a profile on David Duchovney. Newsweek has given David Duchovney their Person of the Year for “sex addiction” in a piece entitled “Sex Addiction in Hollywood,” a profile of the actor. The award-winning actor of “Deadwood”, “The Newsroom”, and “The West Wing” revealed in a statement, “I need treatment for my addiction to drugs and alcohol.”

In the article, Newsweek notes, “David is well known as one of television’s most powerful and compelling characters. He has an intensity that is matched by few actors. But his story is one of redemption, a person who overcame a life long addiction to drugs and alcohol before finding hope in sobriety.”

However, it is not so easy for someone to overcome a drug addiction, especially if it is a lifelong one. As stated above, a person who suffers from addiction will often use drugs to relieve feelings of pain, guilt, shame, and embarrassment. The addict will also find themselves using drugs to numb the pain of depression and withdrawal from drugs, alcohol, or any substance abuse.

However, what is the connection between drug addiction and sex addiction? According to Dr. Peter Atiba Goff, Director of the Drug Abuse Treatment Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine, “there is a direct link between the drug and sexual addiction… both involve the same basic pathology, a state in which the brain continually produces the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin while the brain is trying to deal with certain stimuli, usually pleasurable ones.

“Once your brain gets into this state of pleasure, you become desensitized to other things,” he says. “If the drug and the sexual activity have been going on for a long time, you can have a chemical imbalance in your brain where you become dependent on it and are unable to be rid of it without the drug… When you stop taking the drug or the sexual activity, your brain goes back to its normal state.” This is the same thing that happens to people who have a habit of masturbation.

It is important to note, however, that not everyone who suffers from a sex or drug addiction is necessarily sexually abused. Some individuals may have just used pornography or masturbated in their youth or may simply be using drugs in order to deal with other emotional issues.

However, according to Dr. Goff, “it is difficult to make a distinction between drug abuse and masturbation in a child, since both are equally harmful.” In fact, many children are subjected to both, but when they use drugs in combination with their sex or porn addiction, their chances of developing an addiction to drugs is much higher.

The main thing, according to Dr. Goff, is to get help, whether through drug rehab or marriage counseling. “A strong commitment to recovery is the most important step in treatment, because if the person knows that they need help, there is a good chance they will not relapse.” He points out that, “the first thing any sex or drug treatment program should do is establish a clear understanding between the patient and their physician about why the individual needs help and how to go about getting it.

“The best way to address sex addiction or drug addiction is by learning to identify the triggers, and then to create an environment where the person does not feel these triggers. This may include a visit to a counselor or other health care professional.”

“For a lot of people, they try to solve their problems by self-medicating and this is often the worst mistake a person can make,” says David. He adds that, “sex addiction and drug addiction are two very different things.

“Sex addiction requires a lot of help and attention than drug addiction… Sex addiction often starts in the mind of the person suffering and it is often caused by stress, anxiety, and depression. People who have a habit of masturbating to a porno-type of a site often have a desire for sex with children, animals, or even strangers, and this can lead to a sex crime or a child molestation case.”